Now What?
by Little Blue Fairy
Summary: The female Weasley cousins have a pact that no cousins can pursue or encourage a boy that another cousin has claimed or previously dated. The only problem is Scorpius Malfoy is interested in one cousin but already claimed by another cousin.
1. Chapter 1

**This idea for a story has been rattling around in my head for at least year now. So here goes nothing. **

**I own nothing**

Prologue

It was the night before the first day of school. All the female Weasley cousins had gathered as was tradition. The first year that Rose had attended she had been so excited to join her older cousins. They would all sleep in the same room, talking about the upcoming year, but most importantly the cousins who were still in school made their claims. Rose wasn't sure which cousin had suggested it but all her cousins had sworn never to pursue or encourage a boy that another cousin had claimed or previously dated. So far Rose had not claimed anyone since no one had truly caught her interest enough for her to voice it. She was precise by nature and did not see a point to make a claim unless she was sure. It didn't help that while she was friends with opposite sex that was all there was to it. She was a pal, a confident, a chum and that was fine. After all, no one had ever looked at her the way that Teddy Lupin looked at her older cousin Victorie. That's what Rose wanted, the look that made it seem like the rest of the world did not exist.

"Rose?" A voice broke her train of thought, "Are you even listening? We are about to pick."

"Why bother Lucy? Rose isn't going claim anyone until she is in love." Lily teased. Rose stuck out her tongue at her only younger cousin but smiled.

"What's the rush?" Rose shrugged.

"She is right you know. School is about more than boys." Molly piped in defending Rose which made Roxanne chuck a pillow at her.

"And there's is more to school than studying too." Roxy laughed as Molly tried throwing the pillow back but Roxy caught it effortlessly. Not that was a surprise since she was a chaser on the house quidditch team just like her mother had been. Rose smiled at Molly, glad that the older cousins still made an effort to continue to sleep over on the last night of summer even though they were done with school. Their family was a very closely knit and the cousins many times acted more like siblings than siblings. Three of her closets friends were her cousins.

"Well, as Lily guessed, I am not making a claim right now." Rose announced turning the conversation back to the pact. "Though I am glad that you aren't in my year little cousin. Otherwise there would be no one left for me to pick." Laughter broke out in room. Lily might be the youngest but she was quickly becoming the cousin with the most claims. Lily smirked at Rose though.

"Funny you should say that coz since my choice tonight is from your year." Lily paused making sure that she had the attention of the room. "I claim Scorpius Malfoy." Lily announced grinning. There was a beat of silence before the room was filled opinions on her choice.

**Thoughts? Comments? Let me know**


	2. Chapter 2 Scorpius Learns About the Pact

**I only own my own creativity**

"You are screwed." Albus Potter said gleefully. His best friend Scorpius Malfoy glared at him. They were enjoying a break from classes outside by the lake. It was only the first month but sixth year was already looking like it would be tough.

"Why? I am not going to be scared off by your males relatives. Some of your uncles and cousins actually like me." Scorpius said, looking up at Albus as he was lying on his side while Albus was leaning against a trunk of a nearby tree, thinking that Albus was talking about how over protective the family was of who dated the girl cousins.

"That isn't your problem," Albus started to explain as he scoffed, shaking his head, "You have no idea about the stupid pact my cousins have. Of course that is only a problem if the wrong cousin likes you," He sat back smirking. "Because if the wrong one likes you, you are screwed." He said the last three words slowly emphasizing each one with a huge grin on his face.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence" His blue rolled up as he started to get annoyed by Albus acting superior. Al always did this whenever he knew something some one else did not know. Thankfully for Scorpius, this did not happen too often to him. Albus leaned in, his eyes squinting as he focused on Scorpius' face.

"So which one is it?" Albus asked, then straightened up and scowled, "It's not Lily, is it?"

"What's not Lily?" Both Al and Scorpius turned quickly to see that Rose had sneaked up on them. She stood there hugging a book in her arms looking inquisitively at both of them trying to discern what they had been discussing. Al went back to suspiciously glaring at Scorpius while Scorpius avoided both of Al's and Rose's looks by rolling onto his back and gazing up at the clouds overhead. "Should I come back later?" She asked feeling a little awkward and unsure. She didn't know Scorpius as well as Albus did. Really, she wasn't sure she would even categorize him as a friend. Not that they weren't civil or even friendly, she just already had a number of close guy friends. "I just wanted to talk to you about our paper in potions." She explained talking mostly to Scorpius since Albus wasn't in the Advanced class with her and Scorpius. "I could always come find you later..." She trailed off and started to turn when Albus stopped her. He was still looking at Scorpius when he asked.

"Have any of the cousins claimed him?" He jutted out his chin in the direction of Scorpius. Rose's fair skin turned burned.

"Albus Potter," She hissed, "You aren't supposed to know about that, let alone tell someone about it." She grounded out through her teeth. Scorpius's eyes darted to hers as his head popped up, suddenly interested in something besides the sky.

"So there really is a pact?" His voice tinted with curiosity. " I thought he was just messing with me." Rose's look of anger morphed into absolute panic as she realized she had just confirmed that the pact did indeed exist to an outsider.

"I...I mean... I didn't..." She stared at the ground as she tried to figure out how to get out this. She sighed. "Potions?" Scorpius took pity on her and let it go.

"How about you meet tonight in the library?" He suggested. "After dinner?"

"That works for me." She nodded then glowered at her cousin again. "We will talk about this later." She growled before walking away. Al watched her leave to make sure that she was out of sight before speaking again.

"So who is it?" Albus asked as he poked Scorpius who had rolled back onto his back. Scorpius opened one eye.

"No." He answered simply before closing his eye again.

"Hey, I told you about the stupid pact." Al countered.

"You barely told me anything about it, maybe if you explain more..." Scorpius trailed off in hope that Al would tell him more.

"I don't know that much, only what I have overheard mostly." He started, "Rose and I have argued about the stupidity of it a few times but getting information out of her is like trying to rob Gringotts, actually worse since our parents actually broke into Gringotts." Al mused. When Scorpius didn't say anything he continued. "Essentially, if they like a bloke they tell the other girls and then everyone else stays away from him and none of them can date a guy that another has already dated. At least you haven't dated any of them, then you would have a problem if you liked a different one."

"So I just need to find out if any of them have expressed interest." Scorpius stated.

"I could always ask Rose," Al offered with a smirk, "If only you would tell me who I should be asking about." Scorpius shook his head.

"Subtlety is not your forte my friend. Sometimes I wonder how you were placed in Slytherin. You act more like a lion than a snake."

"And you think you could get it out of Rose?" Al asked chuckling, "I would love to see that." Scorpius shrugged.

"I know her the best out of your female relatives. Plus she already knows that I know about the pact." He pointed out. Albus grinned.

"I still say you are screwed."

Later that night...

"Rose," Scorpius greeted her as he sat down at the table that she had already claimed.

"'lo Scorpius," She gave a distracted reply as she scanned what she had already written. She had been there for a while working on multiple subjects at once. She had grabbed the largest table available in a quiet part of the library and piled the books on the table. Scorpius sat down and got to work too. She felt the corners of her mouth quirk as he knew not to interrupt her train of thought before she was ready to talk to him. They had been thrown together many times over the years. Rose wasn't sure whether it was because the professors were worried about them getting along because of family history, they were both at the top of their year or a combination. Eventually they started to meet on their own without being assigned to. However, even though they met up on a regular basis Rose didn't know too much about him, which made her uncomfortable with the fact that he knew about the pact. Her instincts though told her that he wasn't going announce to the school or anything like that. Still she was curious what he did know.

"So what all did Al tell you?" Rose asked keeping her eyes on her work. She didn't want to make a big deal of this so she thought it was best not to stare him down like this was an interrogation. She noticed that his quill paused for a moment. Rose glanced up in time to see his eyes dart around them as he checked that they were the only ones in this area. Of course if they were not alone, Rose knew ways to making sure no one would listen in.

"Just that you girls have a pact before you showed up, but after that he mentioned that it meant that your cousins can't date a bloke that another cousin is interested in or has dated." He confessed as he put down his quill. He seemed to understand that they would be talking more than studying this time.

"Why did Albus decide to tell you?" Rose asked finally giving him her full attention. Scorpius crossed his arms and sat back in his chair.

"I thought a bright witch like you would have figured quicker than this." Rose frowned at his smirk.

"You like one of my cousins," Rose finally replied slowly and then looked up at him and asked, "So is it Lily? Was Al right?"

"Al was actually hoping that it wasn't Lily when he asked that question." Scorpius grinned as he explained. "He probably doesn't like the idea of me dating his baby sister." Rose rolled her eyes.

"Al is used to Lily dating by now. He must have another reason for not liking the idea." Rose's eyes met his again. "You still haven't answered my question." She challenged. There was that smirk again.

"I told you that you were a bright witch."

"Are you going to answer my question?" Rose resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"I would," He started then continued, "If I needed you answer one of my questions. Still, I am sure that I can figure out what I want to know without asking you." Rose sat back crossing her arms.

"And what would that be?" She asked.

"You want to know whether or not I like Lily and I am guessing that you keep on asking because my reply is important to you. There are two reasons that you would be curious about if it is Lily I like. Either Lily has already claimed me and you are making sure that I like her or you claimed me and you are worried that I like Lily instead." Rose blushed at this. "Knowing what I know about you that tells me that you being the one to claim me is less likely. So I am going to guess that it is Lily who claimed me and that is all I needed to know." Rose took a moment to process what he had just explained to her, not liking how it left her still not knowing whether or not it was Lily. All she could think was if it wasn't Lily, who did Scorpius like and what did that mean for the pact. She was silent long him enough that he went right back to studying without her.

**I had to redo the chapter since Scorpius doesn't seem the type of guy to just lay everything out like I originally had it written. For this story he is definitely Slytherin and of course is cunning and self preserving to a point.**


	3. Chapter 3 A Meeting of Cousins

**I only own my own creativity**

"We need to talk." Rose said as she caught up to Roxy.

"I have qudditch practice in a bit," Roxy reminded her as she kept walking, determined to arrive before anyone else. Rose kept up with her easily even though she wasn't on the team. Thankfully, Rose had memorized enough of her cousins' schedules to know where she should be able to find Roxy in the early morning hours before breakfast. You never knew when information might come in handy so Rose tried to know as much as she could so that she would always be prepared.

"How do you think I found you at this hour?" Rose rolled her eyes. "Albus told one of his friends about the pact." Roxy halted and turned to face Rose.

"Merlin!" Roxy grumbled, "Doesn't Albus know to keep his mouth shut? Which friend?" Roxy of course wasn't as close to Albus as Rose, had no clue which friend she could be referring to. "Really I would have thought that James would have been the one to be idiotic enough to cross us about the pact. Or maybe even my brother." Her mouth flashed a smirk before returning to a scowl.

"Scorpius Malfoy," Rose said hesitantly knowing that Roxy would not like her answer regardless of who knew. Roxy's eyes widened with surprise and then she glared. As she opened her mouth, Rose spilled the rest of the predicament. "He has figured out that he has been claimed by Lily."

"What?" Roxy shrieked. Rose quickly told her the rest.

"And he may have a crush on someone besides Lily..." Rose trailed off.

"Is that all?" Roxy asked dryly as she huffed a sigh.

"Yes," Rose quickly answered. "We should meet up with Lu and Lily."

"Today," Roxy agreed even as she shook her head. "Wonder how Lily is going to take this." Rose shrugged choosing not to comment since that might set Roxy off. Roxy and Lily didn't see eye to eye on many things, even though they did get along for the most part, that didn't stop them from fighting. Plus, there was the fact that Roxy was one of the cousins that did not approve of how many guys Lily had claimed.

"I didn't even guess she liked him until she said his name." Rose admitted. Roxy grimaced.

"Lily should be on her way out here since she has practice with me." Roxy said, "Think you can find Lu and meet us by the lake? Doubt too many people will be wandering about around there at this hour on a Saturday morning." Rose nodded and started back towards the main castle to find her cousin.

"Oh dear." Was Lucy's reply to the news. Unlike some of the cousins, Lucy had a good handle on her temper. Lucy quickly fell in step with Rose as they walked out towards the lake. They were just at the bottom of the steps when Lucy reached out to grab Rose's arm.

"What do you think of Scorpius?" Lucy asked peering at Rose curiously.

"I doubt that he will tell others about the pact." Rose replied quickly, "He only seemed interested because he likes one of us." She took another step down the steps before Lucy could speak.

"You mean, he likes either Lily or you." Lucy stated. Rose paused at Lucy's suggestion. Lucy continued when she saw that her words had taken Rose by surprise. "I have barely any interactions with him," Lucy explained, "and besides quidditch I have never seen him around Roxy. Lily hangs out with him on a regular basis because of his friendship with Albus. You meet with him regularly..."

"As part of our study group," Rose interrupted, "Most of the time we spend together it is in a group. We barely talk to each other directly. It has to be Lily. Right?" Lucy cocked her head to the side as Roses's rambling ended.

"If you truly believe that it is Lily then why are you worried about him liking someone else?" Rose bit her lip.

"I don't know. Just a feeling I guess." Rose sighed. "Stupid Slytherin, why couldn't he just answer the question?" Lucy smiled. "We better get going."

"Okay so what exactly is the problem here?" Lily asked once they had finally met up.

"Malfoy knowing about the pact." Rose replied.

"Albus telling others about a pact that he isn't even supposed to know about." said Lucy.

"Whether or not the guy actually likes you." Roxy pointed out bluntly. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Don't lash out at me just because you are mad at Albus." Lily, sneered "You wouldn't care as much if he was one of your favorites."

"Lily." Lucy said, a touch of warning in her voice. Lily cut her off with the slash of her hand.

"No, if James had done this Roxy wouldn't be so out of shape."She turned back to Roxy, "And you certainly wouldn't put up with me saying things about your beloved brother so don't expect me to."

"Well somebody needs to shut him up." Roxy huffed. Rose placed a hand on Roxy, hoping to calm her before she said anything worse.

"I can talk to Albus. I wanted to talk to him to find out what he told Scorpius anyways."

"Maybe Albus knows who Scorpius likes." Lucy ventured. Rose shook her head.

"I heard just enough before I interrupted them to know that Al doesn't know who it is." Rose stated.

"Do we really need to do all that?" Lily piped up. " I mean, yes someone can read Al the riot act for spilling family secrets but do we need to do anything else? Scorpius likes one of us and if isn't me then I will release my claim on him."

"Which means in the mean time no trying to date him or displays of affection public or otherwise." Roxy's eyebrow arched as she studied her younger cousin. Rose elbowed Roxy.

"Of course." Lily said, her voice tinted with frustration. "Roxy, I know you don't approve of all the guys I have dated but you all know I love you. I would never choose a boy over any of you."

"Why did you pick him in the first place?" Lucy queried. Lily blushed.

"I see him a lot since he and Al are together most of the time. We have talked a few times and he is brill. He doesn't treat me like Al's annoying little sister and makes me feel different than the boys my age. I realized about a month ago that I had a crush on him."

"So it isn't serious...yet." Roxy drew out the last part. Lily nodded sharply. Roxy clapped her hands, "Alright, Lily has a point no need to kill Malfoy just because he knows a small piece of family business and someone should get to yell at Albus." She turned to Rose. " He is more likely to listen to you, Rose, even if you are yelling at him. Give him hell." She grinned before glancing towards the pitch. "Come on Lily, we have practice to get to. See you two later." Rose sighed as she glanced at Lucy.

"Well, I guess I'd better track down our big mouth cousin." Lucy laughed with her as they headed back inside.


End file.
